Dudley-Charlton school board trims town assessments

DUDLEY — Budget actions by the Dudley-Charlton Regional School Committee Wednesday dropped $1.2 million from member town assessments for fiscal 2015.

The committee recently adopted a $49.6 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, which was a $3.3 million, or 7.3 percent, increase. The revised budget adopted Monday stands at $48.6 million, or a 5.1 percent increase of $2.3 million.

With his recommended cuts, Finance Director William J. Trifone told the committee, "Substantial reductions must be made over the coming weeks in an effort to create an educationally sound budget that our member towns will support."

The cuts included the elimination of four staff positions requested by administrators for a budget reduction of $214,672. Also, $475,027 was cut from proposed capital improvement projects for a new allocation of $207,000.

"Those items that would remain in the budget would be safety and conservation measures," Mr. Trifone said of the capital project cuts.

On the revenue side, Mr. Trifone added $170,770 to anticipated state aid for regional transportation and committed an additional $100,000 from district reserves, for a total of $1.3 million from reserves.

Town assessments, as determined by the state Chapter 70 formula, currently stand at $19.4 million, or $2 million more than this year.